Select the most appropriate choice for each person.
-Cuvier
A)a proponent of uniformitarianism
B)developed the theory of catastrophism
C)believed that giraffes have long necks because their short-necked ancestors stretched their necks and passed this change onto their offspring
D)was a naturalist who sailed on the Beagle and studied finches
E)wrote an essay relating population size to competition for limited resources
F)natural historian and author; formed early ideas of the great chain of being

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Cuvier developed the theory of catastrophism, which proposed that the Earth had undergone multiple catastrophic events in the past that caused the extinction of many species.

Answer: F
 Cuvier was a natural historian and author who formed early ideas of the great chain of being, which was a hierarchical system that ranked all living beings in a linear order from the lowest to the highest.

The other options are incorrect:
A. Cuvier was not a proponent of uniformitarianism, which was instead advocated by geologists such as James Hutton and Charles Lyell.
C. The idea that giraffes acquired long necks through the inheritance of acquired characteristics was proposed by Lamarck, not Cuvier.
D. Charles Darwin was the naturalist who sailed on the Beagle and studied finches, not Cuvier.
E. Thomas Malthus wrote an essay relating population size to competition for limited resources, not Cuvier.

Select the Most Appropriate Choice for Each Person